[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#4468) long term questions

[Daniel Speyer <dspeyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Horn Gábor wrote:
> In duels/teams there r not much different "general strategies", in 90
> percent everybody does rep->nav->magn (->elect->steel in teams), so the
> key is who reaches it earlier. After contact it's about prod domination
> an war tactics. W/ unbalanced islands it's normal to get magn 6-8 turns
> earlier than the other (which also means more prod because of the faster
> expansion). If main islands r not extremely far (we usually play duels
> on 50x50 maps), and the first player sends out 3-4 fregattes w/ 3-4
> horsemen, he can get 5-6 of the enemies city w/o any real trouble. At
> this point difference in prod will be more than 50 percent, one of the
> player will have 4-5 cities on enemy's main, who lost his cities on the
> front. So the game is 95 percent decided, and the victim had no really
> chance. The players expanded/explored for 1-1.5 hours, and the game got
> decided in 5 minutes. Not a big fun for the players :)

I realize this isn't really what you're looking for, but this is the 
sort of thing I designed the historical ruleset to avoid.  In 
historical, coastal defenses come shortly before Frigates, so you can 
defend your most important cities.  Admittedly, this is expensive, but 
you don't need to protect *every* city, since your opponent will be 
reluctant to sacrifice frigates.
In the default ruleset, there are several technologies (magnetism, 
gunpowder, steam engine) which give extraordinary tactical power for a 
small technological advantage.  With this sort of magnification effect, 
an extreme standard of fairness is required.  I think they're all 
removed in historical, so that might be a better choice for duels.
Just a Suggestion,
--Daniel Speyer